Products are typically designed to meet one or more needs or requirements of an organization or of certain customers of the organization. For example and without limitation, a vehicle manufacturing organization may require the production of a certain type of assembly which is to be deployed in one of the models or types of vehicles which the organization is producing or is planning to produce. As used within this description, the term “product” means any tangible item which must be created or obtained and which meets certain needs or requirements of a business organization and/or certain customers of such a business organization.
Typically such products may be obtained from a variety of sources. Components which may be cooperatively assembled to produce such products may also be and have traditionally been obtained from a variety of sources. While a plethora of product and component sources exist, it is difficult to identify and evaluate all of the items respectively provided by these various product and component suppliers and to evaluate all of the various combinations of components which may be used to produce the desired product in order to ensure that an acquired product meets the technical and cost objectives and constraints required by the organization and to ensure that a product is produced which “optimally” meets or exceeds the dynamically configurable technical and cost constraints and/or requirements of the business organization in a manner which is better than virtually or substantially all other potential and alternatively supplied products.
There is therefore a need for a method for designing and purchasing a product which overcomes at least some of the previously delineated drawbacks of prior product design and purchasing methodologies and which allows products, components, and sources, and/or providers of such products and components to be efficiently identified and evaluated.